Page 69 of A Simple Regret

Pushing thoughts of Charli and the past out of my head, I turn to my next client and wave her over.

“Ready?”

As soon as we step inside the garage, the sound of the impact stops.

“Cam!”

The man of the hour pokes his head out from under the hood of the old truck he’s working on. “Hey, little dude. I was wondering if you were gonna come over and help me fix this old thing.”

“Yep. I helpdid.”

I have to stop him from just taking off over to where Cam is working. “Let’s get your coat and stuff off,” I say, quickly pulling his coat from his body and hat from his head before he runs straight to where Camden is at.

Camden immediately bends down and picks him up. “Do you know how to do a tune up on a 2-speed Powerglide transmission?”

Theo considers the question but eventually shakes his head. “Nope.”

“Hmm, well, that’s okay. I’m sure we can figure it out together,” he tells my three-year-old, who has been looking forward to coming over here all day. From the moment I asked him at lunch if he wanted to go and help Cam work on his truck, he asked nonstop if it was time to see Cam. Honestly, I used it to get him to take a nap this afternoon, and it worked. Of course, the moment he woke up, he was asking if it was time to come over.

Camden and I have texted back and forth the last few days and made the plan to come by and let Theo work on the truck with him Saturday night. He had to go help Wyatt at the farm for a bit and then was back home before dinner. So as soon as we were done eating, we got bundled up to make the short trek across property lines to visit our neighbor for a bit.

Our very gorgeous neighbor.

I move over to the workbench along the wall where Camden keeps his tools and have a seat on the stool. For the next hour, I just sit there and watch them together. Camden takes his time and answers every single question Theo asks him, and together they do a little work on the old C10. I’m sure Camden would have done it all a lot quicker without the sidekick, but he didn’t seem to mind having Theo underfoot. In fact, he really seemed to enjoy it.

Camden picks Theo up and carries him to the cab of the old truck. He slides inside, letting Theo sit on his lap and drive. My son grips the wheel, turning it back and forth and making engine noises, much like he does when he’s playing with his Hot Wheels at home. Cam looks up and makes eye contact with me. The heat of his gaze is felt through the windshield and across the garage. It makes blood swoosh through my veins and land with a zing at the apex of my legs. Just one look causes my hormones to fire to life, for lust to stir up naughty thoughts. Thoughts I have no business thinking about. We’re finally on friendly terms, and the last thing I want to do is ruin it by picturing him naked.

But, boy, what glorious images those are…

“Want to start it up?” I hear Camden ask Theo.

“Yep!” he readily agrees, watching intently as Camden reaches forward and starts the truck. It fires to life loudly, a deep, even growl of power, despite the fact the truck is from the sixties. He’s clearly been doing a lot of work on it, updating and repairing the necessary parts to bring the truck to life once more.

Theo cheers, his own smile a mile wide. Without thinking, I reach for my phone and snap a quick picture of the two of them, both sitting behind the wheel with happy little grins on their faces. I even catch one of them looking at each other. The picture makes my heart happy.

When they shut it off, Camden helps Theo out of the truck and closes the door. “Well, what do you think?”

“Wide?” Theo asks, clearly ready to hop back in the truck and take it for a spin or two around the block.

“Soon. It’s almost ready for a test run. Then it has to go to the body shop for a little work and paint. But when it’s done there, we’ll be able to take it out for a long cruise. Maybe we can go get some ice cream and go fishing. Have you ever been fishing?” he asks my son.

Theo shakes his head.

“Well, if you want to, maybe we can go this summer.”

“Now?” my son asks, anxious and hopeful.

“No, not now. We’d have to go ice fishing now,” Camden replies with a chuckle. “We have to wait until it’s warm outside, but I promise we can go this summer if you want.”

“I go!” Theo proclaims.

Camden walks toward where I sit and grabs a few Matchbox cars that look brand new. “Here ya go, little dude. I even got you a rug.”

I watch as Camden pulls a rug from a shelf and lays it on the floor. It’s a little town of roads and buildings, perfect to drive little cars over. Theo instantly runs to it and starts playing, making the engine noises like before and adding a few honking horns.

“Thank you,” I say the moment Camden comes to stand beside me.

He doesn’t say anything for a second, but eventually replies, “No, thank you.”